There was a king over a beautiful kingdom. His people loved him and he loved them. But when the king was off to war, his enemy came and took over his kingdom. He deceived the people into thinking the king would never return. He convinced them that whatever their hearts desire, they could take, with no regard for anyone else. Medicines were used up and forgotten so sickness and disease became epidemic. The food supplies were used up and people started going hungry. Soon anarchy reigned and people completely forgot about their king and the peaceful lives they lived under his rule.
Eventually, word came to the king on the battlefront about the state of his kingdom. He knew that if he sent a detachment of troops from his army that the people would fight for their newfound 'freedom' to fulfill their every desire and there would be many casualties. So he decided to send his son, the prince, to start a subversive movement among the people to remember their love for him.
So under the cover of darkness the price returned to the kingdom disguising himself as a peasant. He brought with him many medicines that had been forgotten under the current regime and healed many sick people. He re-taught them how to plant seed and tend gardens so the hungry were fed. And all the while he reminded the people how much better life used to be with the king, inviting them to return to that life, and promising that the king would return from war and restore things to how they should be.
Soon the prince began to gather quite a following for the king. When the evil tyrant heard of this subversive movement he had the prince arrested and brought to the castle for trial. He was declared a traitor and according to the laws of the land the only sentence for treason was death. Once again, word came to the king about the plight of his son. When he heard this the king’s face fell and he said, “My people have betrayed their king. And it is for their act of treason my son must die."
~An excerpt from Sunday's message on the gospel
A parable
Wedding Day
Some days you think you have a plan; others you never see coming. Today, I was on my way to the library to do some writing when I ran into my friend Sam who was coming fresh from the barber shop. Sam and his fiancée are getting married on December 13 and I was sooo disappointed when he asked me to do his photography because I’ll be back in the States by then. It would’ve been an awesome cultural experience and it’ll be a killer party. But alas, I must remind myself like when I left, I’ll always miss out on something.
But this morning, he asked me again. As I was about to remind him that I wouldn’t be here, he said they were having their public ceremony in December, but their official ceremony was at the magistrate’s office in Swakop today. Since I had no plans that couldn’t be rescheduled I jumped at the opportunity. So with enough time to change my clothes and grab my camera, I joined Sam and Boniface to catch a lift into town.
We should’ve known when the rear passenger side door had no handle. And if not that, then it should’ve been a dead give away when none of the windows rolled down, the passenger door didn’t shut right, and you couldn’t open either back door from the inside. But we needed the ride, so after a stop at the Arandis ‘petrol station’ (some guy that sells gas by the 5 liter jug out of his house for an outrageous profit) we were on our way.
Not five minutes down the road the engine died and we coasted to a stop. We climbed out of the stuffy back seat, after someone opened the door for us from the outside, and told the driver, ‘thanks, but we’ll find another ride.’ After we prayed, the very next car was a pickup truck that Providence sent for us. The groom hopped in the front and Boni and I in the back and we were finally on our way.
The ceremony was lovely. They signed a few papers, exchanged rings and kissed, and it was over before a Vambo could eat a fat cake. The next couple in line asked me to take some photos for them too, which was slightly awkward, but hey, now I can say I’m a professional if I get paid for my work, right? :)
So congratulations to Sam and Victoria! I’m super excited for you and wish I could be here on the 13th. I pray for God's continued blessing on your life together.
Marta
The three girls were quite patient and mostly attentive in the hot sun as Eddie and I spoke with them for over an hour concerning the Holy Spirit, hell, Christ on the cross, whether ‘born agains’ could drink or have boyfriends, and whatever other questions came to their minds. We presented God’s good news as clearly as we could and it seemed to me that they understood it. Marta and Sarah both followed Eddie in a prayer to express their belief, while Lucia said she would pray by herself when she got home. We parted ways leaving them with an invite to church on Sunday.
This morning I was excited to see Marta across the room at church, but she split before I could chat with her. I was even more excited to see her at youth group this evening where I could catch up with her. As we shared around the circle about our experiences this week she told us a bit of her story.
She had been involved in a church and in Scripture Union (SU) with Boniface, so she knew some of the other girls in the room. But her father didn’t approve of her religious activities, so she soon began losing interest and started believing some of the lies of the world. Then lately she had just started going back to SU and was feeling like she needed to become born again. That’s when Providence sent her walking past Eddie and me.
It's stories like Marta's that remind a cynic like me that some of the professions of faith are real and that God's been working in people's lives long before I got there and will continue long after I go. Some do the planting, some the watering, but God causes the growth.
I pray that Marta continues coming to youth group and SU where she can grow in understanding and be encouraged by other followers of Christ her own age. I pray that she will be a light to her family and that her father won’t kick her out of the house because of her decision to follow Christ. And I continue to pray for her two friends, Lucia and Sarah, that God will take that seed that was planted and bring it to fruition.
Adventures in Door-to-Door Evangelism
When he first came to the door in a long t-shirt and his underwear, we offered an embarrassed chuckle, but when I realized it was my friend Immanuel from the library, I began to look for a place to hide. I was with two girls from Windhoek who came with a team from their church to do an outreach with our youth group in Arandis. Their primary evangelistic tool, door-to-door evangelism.
If you’ve known me for any length of time you know what a huge fan I am of door-to-door evangelism (said very sarcastically for those who don’t). But all this week in the mornings and afternoons we go out in small groups to visit people’s homes, unashamedly share the gospel, then invite them to the evening program we hold every night.
Aside from feeling like a Jehovah’s Witness, I think it puts people on the defensive and they’re far less interested in talking about deep personal matters with a complete stranger than a friend. That said, I have discovered many benefits thus far. At first I was slightly anxious whenever we came to the house of someone I knew. But then I got to thinking, it gave me the perfect opportunity to introduce Jesus into our ongoing conversations. True, this team from Windhoek doesn’t know this person or where they’re at, but their boldness has forced me to be upfront about my faith. For those I don’t know, it gives me the chance to explain why I’m here and let them know I’m available if they ever have questions. In addition, it’s helped me refine my ability to succinctly, clearly share what I believe and helped me get a better understanding of some questions people face regarding the gospel.
I still don't know exactly where Immanuel is on his spiritual journey, but now when the questions and issues come up, he knows he has a friend with whom he can discuss them. I'm also looking forward to an intriguing follow-up conversation the next time I see him in the library. And I’m still no closer to taking up door-to-door on my free weekends, but it has been an interesting exercise in openness and boldness.
Elizabeth
Elizabeth was born with spina bifida. But from lack of proper care at the Ark in Rehoboth, she ended up dragging her legs to get around. Had she received the care she needed she may have been walking by now, but from all the dragging, one of her feet got an infection down to the bone and had to be amputated. Praise God, she now has a proper wheelchair and people who love and look after her. And despite all that she’s gone through, that contagious smile never leaves her face.
The past few school breaks she’s been coming from Rehoboth to stay with Nan. That’s where I met her. She wanted to keep playing Uno over and over. At first she got upset when I would drop a Draw 2, but then she started thanking me because it helped her get more cards she could use for revenge. :)
Getting to know Elizabeth has made me think how easily we get bitter and upset when things don’t go the way we want them to. But by doing that we’re basically telling God He’s not doing a good enough job. He obviously messed up because something didn’t go according to our plans. In the allegory Hinds Feet on High Places, Much-Afraid is traveling from the Valley of Humiliation to the High Places. She is heartbroken when the path the Shepherd marked out for her leads her through the desert in the opposite direction of the High Places, but it’s in the desert where she learns to call herself “Acceptance-with-Joy”. Elizabeth reminds me that whatever path the Shepherd has marked out for me, I too must humbly say, “I am your servant, Acceptance-with-Joy.”
Revival
Monday morning at day camp we went hiking up the small mountain outside Arandis. On the way back down, Revival clung to my hand with the utmost trust. If she were to slip or misstep, she had no doubt that I would hold her up. That afternoon when Karrie found a chameleon, I let her hold it a little bit. As it crawled up her arm she was thrilled, not a hint of fear. Sometimes I wonder if she doesn’t understand that she’s ‘suppose’ to be afraid of some things, or if she really does just trust that people won’t let her get hurt. For her, maybe it’s a bit of both. Sometimes I wonder if Christians are just too ignorant and foolish to know better, or if we really do trust God to know what’s best for us.
Weekend highlights
I finally met Steve and Karrie Graham. They are missionaries with African Inland Missions helping out with Hope’s Promise in Arandis. During the school holiday they’ve been running a day camp so I volunteered to help out Friday and Monday.
Friday night was Scrabble night at Nan’s house. Pardon the momentary boasting, but I beat Mike Dunne (the latest Hope’s Promise full-timer in Arandis from Missionary Ventures) and Nan, 197 to 162 to 97. Usually age is directly proportional to how good you are at Scrabble…but not this time. ;)
On Saturday afternoon, Mike and I went out to Spitzkoppe with some of the older Hope’s Promise kids, Jessica, Daniel, Charmaine, Bradley, Salome, and Elaine. I didn’t realize how cool that place is! I thought it was just a mountain to climb up and see the view, but instead I found a photographer’s heaven! I took almost 250 pictures in just one afternoon. Thank God it’s digital and not film. :) You can see some of them over on my Flickr site.
Speaking of thanking God, cool story…from high on one of the rock hills I dropped my lens cap. I cried inside as I watched it bounce down the steep rock and disappear beyond my view. As the kids climbed down to start looking, I started praying. If God cared enough to help me find my Patriots shirt, then why not my lens cap. I joined the search and was about to give up resigning it to its fate among the rocks, when I saw one last crevice to check…and sure enough, there it lay. And there was much rejoicing.
For the first time in five months I helped lead worship at Christ’s Church. On Sunday afternoon, Tresford and I called into the service via Skype to help lead the congregation in Amazing Grace. It was great to have a taste of home and help share in the incredible vision of the international Body of Christ. Monday night I stayed up until 2:15am to do it again, teaching the lesson for youth group at Christ’s Church. It was great seeing everybody and “hanging out” through the computer screen. (Thanks for staying after and chatting. I miss all you guys!)
100
I used to think of Orion as a decent sized constellation, but not that big compared to Taurus or the Scorpion. But that was before I saw the flashing light of a plane flying through the middle of "The Hunter”. I’ve stood next to planes. I know how big they are. But this one, as it inched across the constellation, was no bigger than one of the stars making up his shape. Now I look up at the western sky and Orion looks enormous.
It is the Lord who created the stars, the Pleiades and Orion. It is he who turns blackness into dawn and darkens day into night; who draws up water from the oceans and pours it down as rain on the land. The Lord is his name! ~Amos 5:8~~~~~~~~
Guinea fowl are usually pretty timid, but making it’s home in the Windhoek Botanical Gardens, this one probably sees it’s fair share of inquisitive tourists. It was quite a peaceful walk through the hills enjoying the quiver trees and the bottle trees and the Windhoek Aloe in full bloom. It’s these little things that you don’t have the chance to appreciate when you’re in and out in two short weeks.I’m pretty excited about the Judea Harvest youth camp next week. Like I said, I’ll be teaching a volleyball clinic in the late morning, but I also volunteered to be a part of the worship team. There will be over 100 kids from churches all around Windhoek. They’ll spend Sunday night through Thursday here at the plot learning evangelism training and other life skills. Then over the weekend I’ll join them down in Mariental (an hour and a half south of Rehoboth) for an outreach to put their training into practice. It should be a great week…although it does mean I’ll miss the bazaar in Arandis which I’m kinda disappointed about.
Other random updates: The animal adventures continue…I’ve killed 4 mice in my house within the last week. For those animal rights people, there are still plenty around even without those who desire to reside in my home. I also skidded out pretty hard core on a bike the other day and scraped up my knee pretty badly. It looks rough, but it’s already on the mend. And as surprising as it may sound, I found a juice I think I like better than Juicy Fruit’s Mango Orange. Fruitree’s Clear Apple juice is phenomenal! With every cup it’s as though I’d forgotten how good it was!
Blazing Sandals
The clock is my friend tonight, or I should say Daylight Savings Time is my friend. Tonight we set the clocks back giving me a whole extra hour of sleep! (That also means the time difference will be only 5 hours to the east coast for those who are keeping track.) 
And what a perfect night for it. Today I set out with some of the volunteers from the Ark to climb the mountain overlooking Okahandja (as seen in the Photo of the Day on March 21). None of us had actually done it before and our word of mouth directions were rather vague, so most of the way we were basically blazing our own trail through the bush. Despite getting their braids stuck in the thorn bushes and some pretty intense rock climbing, the girls were troopers and made it all the way up. After a long day hiking I was more than ready for a shower, a little comfort food for dinner (Kraft Macaroni & Cheese! a gift from home), and pretty soon an early bedtime.
MIA extraction successful!
I was really pretty upset about losing my long sleeve Patriots shirt on our hike yesterday, so today after Bible Study I decided to embark on a one man rescue mission. Backtracking my steps I returned to face my previous adversary, the fateful riverbed. About a half hour into the hike I stumbled on a rock and as I looked down to catch my footing, there was my shirt right in front of me! I’d been praying the whole way that God would allow my eyes to fall on just the right place so I wouldn’t miss it in the vastness of the bush, and sure enough He did. Coincidence or Providence? I think you know my answer.
Since I’d already gone that far, I figured I'd keep going up the koppe. I had nothing waiting for me at home and plenty of sunlight, so I went. Rather than continuing down the long “shortcut” I set off blazing my own trail through the bush up the mountain. This time I saw a couple baboons across the valley and a gemsbok not 40 yards away. Had I been a little quieter I might not have scared it away so quickly. As I looked out across the rolling hills and valleys of the Central Plateau stretching out before me it felt like I was in National Geographic.
I had to leave about an hour before sunset so as not to be hiking down in the dark. This time I took the short, steep way down rather than Dieter’s phantom “access road”. I made it home as the sun was becoming a fading memory beyond the clouds on the horizon. Mission accomplished!
Some shortcut
Dieter and I really should save our adventures for Saturday mornings rather than Sundays. This morning we decided to climb up the koppe to the cell tower. We left at 6am by the light of the moon, when the first lights of morning were just awakening over the horizon. At first it wasn’t bad walking because the cattle had eaten away most of the grass. But once we’d climbed above where the cattle graze, the grass was tall, often chest height. We wound our way along the fence up the steep precipice thick with yellow flowers. As we reached the top the sun had poured out over the valley below revealing astounding views. We could see Monkey Mountain, the lake, the whole of Okahandja and the road to Swakopmund stretching out beyond. We had a great view of Dieter’s plot, all his neighbors and the road to Gross Barmen following the Swakop River as it disappeared past the horizon heading out across the desert. Next time I’ll have to plan to spend some time there, but today I had to get back for church.
The way we came up would have been tricky going down with the tall grass making the steep rocks quite slippery, so while Dieter went that way with the dogs, I opted to jump the fence and walk down the access road through the nature reserve. With all the grass it was difficult to see the access road so I ended up following the water runoff which was easy enough because it was a mostly rocky path and not as much grass. Once I hit the river bed it was easy going and reminded me of hiking through the Grand Canyon with steep hills climbing quickly to my left and right. All the land around Von Bach Dam is a nature reserve which made for quite an eventful walk. Across the valley I saw four zebra looking oddly at me before they traipsed away to the other side of the koppe. I startled some kudu from their resting place and followed them down the river bed for a while, but the only view of them I saw was a little white tail some 50 yards away as it bounded into the bush. Since water takes the path of least resistance, the walk was easy enough, but it wound its way around every hill and koppe from here to Timbuktu! By the time I made it back, Dieter had beaten me by almost an hour, I was quite exhausted, lost my long sleeve Patriots shirt, and needless to say, I didn’t make it to church.
Gotta love 5 day weekends
Friday afternoon the Ark hosted a Fun Day by the river (which wasn’t actually flowing since we’ve had a few sunny days now) for all the volunteers and people that help out there. We played some volleyball, some balloon games and I even taught the kids how to play American football. At first they tried to turn it into rugby, but there were enough of us that knew the game that eventually the others got the hang of it. It was a blast hanging out with the kids and staff. Usually I’m just helping with homework so it was nice to play a bit.Saturday afternoon Dieter invited me to join him out on the lake created by the Von Bach Dam. This and a few other dams provide much of the water for the rest of the country. We loaded up our sleeping gear, warm change of clothes, my camera, and a bottle of Coke all on their Hobie Cat, hoisted the sail…and started paddling because there wasn’t much wind. :) Once we did catch a breeze it was awesome dangling my feet in the water, watching the sun set behind us. We navigated down a small inlet to where we would camp for the night. We unrolled our sleeping bags and drank our Coke around the campfire chatting away. All the while, we were keeping a watchful eye on the clouds that slowly started drifting over the almost full
moon. Just as I got a call from some friends back home, we started feeling the first drops. We quickly rolled up our beds and stuffed our bags under a rock outcropping, then took shelter ourselves underneath the Hobie Cat that we’d pulled up on shore. What a true African adventure! Fortunately it was only a quick shower and cleared up for the rest of the night so we could stay out. The next morning as we sailed back watching the moon set on one horizon and the sun rise on the other we were both incredibly thankful that God created people who love 5-star hotels and that we’re not them.Bring the Fire
Another weekend in Arandis made for more late nights, investing in relationships, and lots of funny moments. Friday and Saturday nights at the crusade provided more of the same. Crowds of people flooded the stage to be prayed over for healing or employment or to be ‘baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ Toward the end of the last night while the different pastors were praying over people and they were falling down left and right, the preacher called me over to pray for me. Realizing there was no polite way out of it, I begrudgingly set down my guitar and let him pray for me. He kept praying “Bring the fire! Bring the fire!” and I kept praying “Thank you Lord that I already have the Spirit living in me!” I found humor in the situation, mostly because I believe so differently than they do. I went back to our Bible study in Okahandja on Monday where we were talking about the Spirit of the Lord leaving Saul and coming upon David, and made a special point of emphasis about us receiving the Spirit once for all when we become children of God. Guess the whole experience made a lasting impression.
Overall, it was a great weekend. I spent a lot of time with the young people from Arandis Community Church since many of them were also helping with the music. I finished up taking family photos of the Hope’s Promise families that I didn’t get to last weekend. That whole process has been cool because it’s allowed me to get to know many of the kids that I didn’t know before. But probably my highlight of the weekend was leading worship for youth group on Sunday afternoon. It was a great joy playing and worshiping together with such an inspiring group of teens.
Don & Jackie had already started their 48 hour countdown when I left. They will join me back in Okahandja tomorrow, then we’ll head down to Rehoboth on Thursday, stopping in Windhoek on the way to hang with Toivo.
Back in Arandis
February 29th, my favorite day of the year. It’s almost like a holiday, like Christmas or Easter or Free Text Friday. Enjoy today, it only comes around once every four years!
This morning I went over to the secondary school with Boniface to attend his Scripture Union club. I saw many familiar faces from when I was here last July. (For those on that team, I saw Charmaine, Raymond, Maria and Maria, Rebecca, Jesme, and others whose faces I remembered but names I did not.) They remembered the girls from last year and wanted to know when they’re coming back. Then it was off to play photographer again, capturing pictures at the preschool and the Talitha Kumi primary school to use for the Hope’s Promise website. Molly and Jaime, this pic's for you. Revival became a quick favorite for them last year. :)
After the rain
There is a giant mushroom that grows out of the huge termite mounds only after it rains. I’m not a mushroom fan myself, but they’re considered a specialty here in Namibia.
Also after it rains, out come the ‘mopane worms’ (named because they feed on the mopane [pronounced mo-pon-ie] tree). On the way into church this morning everyone was headed out to the bush with their buckets to fill with the large caterpillars of the emperor moth. They’re quite plentiful, so you could conceivably find up to 10-20 on one bush. They puke up this green juice when you try to pluck them off the branch, kind of like a toad will pee on you when you pick it up. The harvesters will take them home in these big buckets, squeeze out the guts, dry them in the sun, then fry them up for eating. Apparently it’s an excellent source of protein.After church today, Buddy, Julia and I went out mopane worm hunting for ourselves. We collected a pretty good bag full. Julia knows a couple different ways to prepare them so they invited me back tonight to join them for the fruits of our labor!
No chameleons were injured during the making of this post
Shortly up the hill I found the Shalom Center, just where my friend Castrow said it would be. The Center is the home of a Christian Missions School where they have preschool classes, kindergarten, and grade zero. From there students go into grade one in the public schools. Castrow is the spiritual director at the Center and teaches one of the preschool classes. After lunch the students sat down for children’s church where Castrow shared about being faithful in the little things. Usually when we come with a team it’s the girls with long blonde hair that the kids want to touch, but today they couldn’t get enough of my hairy legs and goatee.Afterwards I sat down and chatted with Castrow for a couple hours about the ministry, how life is going, and dreams for the future. He’s a great example of partnering with someone long term. As I said, we first met when he joined one of our teams for an outreach in 2002. We went into the schools to teach about abstinence and used a mime presentation to help share Christ and cross any language barriers. Today he told me that mime has become part of his regular ministry. He’s taught it to people in Katima, Gobabis, everywhere he goes. That’s pretty humbling to hear how God’s multiplied a mime that some cocky college graduate made up in his loft.
In 2004, Germaine and I were able to visit with him while he was in seminary. Someone from the States had donated a bunch of laptops, one of which we gave to him. Today, smiling, he boasted how both he and his fiancé Virgil had written their seminary term papers on it and how he still uses it today. He was also pleased to show me how he was using the camera someone from our church had given him to make IDs for all the children in school at the Center. Those are excellent examples of how gifts and technology can be helpful in ministry without creating a dependency on Western aid.
In 2006, we brought a band from the church to play concerts and share Christ across Namibia. At the time Castrow was working for his church back home in remote Katima, which is out on the Caprivi Strip. When he was promoting for the concert nobody believed that a band from America would actually come all the way to Katima. But despite the small turnout, he reassured me that it had an impact in the community and the people that did attend. He specifically mentioned the openness of Kevin and Sonciary’s testimony because African culture tends to hide personal details. It was good for the people to hear them speak honestly about their lives and relationship.
So now, nearly six years after meeting this young ambitions guy getting ready to go to seminary, I can sit down with this seminary graduate and ministry colleague and listen for hours to how God’s been using him and our partnership together. That’s the value of long term missions relationships. That’s how the church in America can support and encourage and equip their African brothers and sisters without causing the harm of dependency and entitlement that so often accompanies American missions.
Last but not least, I had to include this picture of the kids terrorizing this poor little chameleon because it was so funny. Castrow was afraid to even get close to the thing, but these little preschoolers would sneak in and pick it up by the body then drop it real quick. As opposed to popular belief, chameleons change based on their mood, not their surroundings, kinda like a mood ring. After a while you could tell it was getting pretty mad because it was turning black. I thought it was humorous, but now I’m sure I’ll have some animal protection agency all over me.Lowering of the Flags
I had my first cultural eating experience today. (Don’t worry, it’s not as exciting as what’s to come.) When there’s a wedding, the families raise flags over their home to let everyone know, one to signify that they’re getting married and one to show that the bride has no children. Buddy and Julia were first married 8 months ago, but just in December went north for the traditional Oshivambo wedding with Julia’s family. So now that that’s over, today was the lowering of the flags ceremony. Looking forward to a cultural experience, I accepted the invitation to join them at Julia’s family’s house in Vyf Rand.
As is typical in Africa it was a whole afternoon affair. Julia is the 7th of 8 children, so add in friends and cousins and it was a full house. When we got to the lowering of the flags part, the ladies, wearing their traditional dresses, all danced and waved white flags over Buddy and Julia. They shouted, “Julia, you can go now,” indicating that now she’s married and will go make her own home. Then, also typical to Africa celebrations, came the food. We had rice covered with onions and tomato sauce with some chicken. I’ll admit I snickered inside when Buddy’s two American friends passed saying they’d just eaten and he and I both accepted a big bowl. When they found out I was single some of ladies started dancing around me waving the flags saying I could find an Oshivambo girl and be next. I politely declined saying Julia’s sister was too young for me. In the end I made out still single, with my stomach settled (for now), and with a much greater appreciation for good old African hospitality.
Friday Night Lights
Our first Coffee Bar was Friday night. They told me it’d take about 10 minutes to set up if everyone was there, so I showed up 10 minutes late ;) and Buddy & Julia were the only one’s there. We set out some tables with board games, card games, National Geographic mags, and encyclopedias. Yes, encyclopedias. Some kids are really bored.
Dance Praise was exceptional. Contemporary Christian culture at it’s finest. It was totally just DDR with Christian rock songs. The only Crowder song they have is O Praise Him from Sunsets & Sushi, but they also have some Seven Day Jesus and Steven Curtis Chapman’s Live Out Loud, so I guess it’s ok. After a warm-up dance, I just barely beat Mervin in a duel, though I still need a lot of practice before I can beat Buddy. He’s smoking.
Overall it was a slow first night. It was mostly just the teens from the Ark and the high school Bible Study, but that was fine with me because I’m still getting to know everybody. Even though there wasn’t much need for security, Buddy brought along his walkie talkies, ear buds and all. They were phenomenal. I think we were having a little too much fun with them though because his battery wore out in about an hour.
It just so happened that a high-up Herero chief had died this week and his funeral was today. Now in Africa a funeral is a huge deal. They stay up all night before singing and dancing around the fire until they loose their voices. They cook tons and tons of food (more than we bought for our breakfast). The next morning they have a long procession to the cemetery for the burial then go back and eat all the food. Because this was such an important chief, everyone came out. There were cars all up and down the road with tents next to them for people that came from out of town. Even the President of Namibia came out for the occasion.
All that to say, Joan took the kombie out to get the first group of teachers and got caught up in this funeral procession. She finally got back with that group and had to make the second trip, and got caught in the procession again. Finally around 10am everyone had arrived. They ate and socialized and prayed together and by 12:30 we had most everything cleaned up and dishes washed. All that for breakfast. That’s when I went back for a nap. I have much more respect for those that help out with CCA Men’s Breakfasts and I will never work in a hotel.
Under open skies
Across the horizon to my left, lighting from three different storms flashed across the sky. To the right, I watched the red sky sink behind the lights of the city. After fruitlessly trying to capture lighting on film for quite some time I eventually just sat back and enjoyed the light show spread across the vast sky before me. Yet another reason why I’ve come to love Africa so much!
Toward the end of the conversation as we were talking about how Abram believed in God’s promises, Buddy told a story about when someone asked him recently, ‘how do you really know for sure that you’re going to heaven when you die.’ So he posed the question to Crystalfine. Her response was similar to what you’d hear from many, even those who call themselves born again. ‘Well, it depends on what you do while you’re here. If you do many bad things then you will not, but if you do many good things then you will go to heaven.’ Unfortunately that’s a prevailing opinion throughout much of the world today, not just Namibia.
We explained to her about grace and took her to Ephesians 2:8-9. I told her why I knew I was going to heaven when I die, because I’m trusting in what Christ has done on the cross and not on my own actions. By the end of the long explanation you could tell she only assented to understand because it would be impolite not to. And that’s exactly why we’re going through this Bible Study, because she doesn’t have the foundational knowledge about God to understand that even our good works are “as filthy rags.” There’s nothing that we can do to improve our situation as sinners. All we can do to pay our debt is to die…forever. That’s why the gospel is such good news, because He sent a Deliverer, promised to Adam and to Abram and to Israel, and that’s Jesus Christ! That’s why I’m here, to help people like Crystalfine know and understand that truth.
Unwelcome houseguests and fast friends
Somehow the natives must think they can get free room and board with me, but for the most part they are quite unwelcome. At 11:30 last night when I got back all I wanted to do was go to bed, but no, this fellow had other plans. After taking a few snapshots for Lauren, the battle for supremacy of the domain ensued. It looked dire for a moment, but in the end it was man that prevailed. (Basically that means I trapped him under a bowl, took him outside and squashed him with my shoe. I tried to find a big soldier ant to fight him against like Richard suggested, but I couldn’t.) I searched my entire room to make sure he didn’t have any cohorts before finally settling down to a nice sleep.
Todd is very well read and knowledgeable about his theology. He’s also protective against false teaching and not afraid to be confrontational about it, as evident in our first encounter. But he’s definitely passionate for God’s glory and grace and sharing it with the people here. (His daughter is named Gloria Grace.) Erin, on the other hand, is very much his complement, quite friendly and caring. We talked a lot about their story of getting here and my story of getting here. I shared quite a bit about Christ’s Church and how we’ve learned missions from our trips to Namibia. Both he and Buddy seemed pleased about the way that we’ve gone about doing things. (For example, they’d never heard of a church sending a survey team before.) After spending the day with them I’m really disappointed they’re moving to Windhoek. I’m quite selfish and want them to stay in Okahandja! :) Before coming here I was anxious about finding people my own age I could relate to, but these two couples, Todd and Erin, and Buddy and Julia, definitely seem to fit the bill. God must’ve been shaking his head thinking, ‘My child, why to you worry.’ He knew well in advance and indeed had it planned before the foundations of the earth.
